AMSTERDAM SERVIES

Collaboration with:
Atelier NL and 
https://residencyforthepeople.com/

Photography: Ronald Smits

In 2023, the city of Amsterdam will work on creating a joint tableware set, assembled from clay from the primeval soil of het Fluisterbos, which bears the history of the city. This effort is led by the Amsterdam 4 and 5 May Committee in collaboration with Atelier NL and Residency for the People. The intention is to work on this service on various commemoration days during the year and then use it for communal meals.

On Liberation Day, the tableware is made during a Freedom Meal in the Vondelpark. On July 1, in commemoration of the abolition of slavery, the tableware is already used during a Free Heri Heri meal and further supplemented. On August 16, the day between the end of the Second World War in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the proclamation of Indonesia’s independence, participants in the Freedom Table of the Nusantara Foundation add a new piece to the service. Amsterdam residents who participate in these meals contribute to the shared Amsterdam tableware.

Each commemoration day is dedicated to a specific history, but at the same time this project connects past and present through communal meals. Eating together from this tableware, made from Amsterdam clay, symbolizes the art of living together and carries history into the future. The tableware is made available to all Amsterdam residents who, regardless of their background, want to eat together during commemorations and celebrations.

This initiative was set up by the Amsterdam 4 and 5 May committee, which called on the expertise of Atelier NL and Residency for the People to support Amsterdam residents in making their own tableware. This service will consist of various pieces that are used on different commemoration days by the various residents of Amsterdam.